You’re not alone if you’ve ever wondered how many eCommerce websites there are. Every day, an average of about 1500 new sites are launched. That means there are roughly four hundred million online websites today. Of those, between twelve and twenty-four million are eCommerce sites.
Amazon is the largest eCommerce website in the world.
Amazon began in 1994 as a bookstore but has grown to sell everything under the sun. Today, Amazon operates 12 websites around the world. Its significant presence is in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. The company has expanded into other markets, including streaming video, cloud computing, and banking.
In addition to its online stores, Amazon has a vast social media following. Its associates can share their experiences with customers through their blogs and social networks. There are many customer reviews on Amazon, and most are positive. The company also has a large number of YouTube videos.
The growth of Amazon may be attributed to its efforts to make shopping easier for customers. The company reduced the average click-to-door time for online purchases from three to two days. It also invested in its marketplace, attracting 190,000 new third-party sellers. And its most famous event, Prime Day, was a huge success, with more than 3.5 billion dollars spent by Prime members. This figure represents a 60% increase in Prime Day sales compared to last year.
Amazon makes up 40% of all eCommerce sales in the United States. Its fastest-growing category, food, and beverage, are projected to grow 25% YoY. It is followed by eBay, the second-largest online marketplace, founded in California by Pierre Omidyar. eBay has over 190 countries and generates 59% of its revenue from international operations. While it started as a simple auction website, it has since evolved into a direct purchasing portal.
The biggest eCommerce website in the world offers millions of products from many categories. Many of these are available online, including books, games, music, and groceries. In addition, Amazon offers online advertising, hosting, and a co-branded credit card for businesses.
Alibaba is another eCommerce company that has expanded its business beyond the U.S. and has recently partnered with Salesforce to create an ecosystem similar to Amazon. Alibaba aims to make its platform more streamlined and social. It seeks to increase GMV in its entire ecosystem, including Tmall and Taobao.
eBay is the second largest
Although Amazon is the world’s largest eCommerce website, eBay is the second largest. The company has a significant head start on the competition, as it has been around for 20 years. The site has grown to become the largest online marketplace in the world and is also the first of its kind. Today, the website sells virtually anything and offers free shipping on many items.
The website operates on a peer-to-peer business model and makes money through transaction fees, listing fees, and marketing services. With over two billion daily transactions, eBay has become one of the world’s largest online marketplaces. Despite this massive scale, the company is still increasing, with more than $19 billion in revenue in the U.S. alone.
Despite this growth, the company remains behind Amazon in the U.S., which accounts for over 50% of all online retail sales. Its market share is also comparatively lower than Amazon’s, with around 689 million monthly visits compared to over two billion for eBay. This gap is mainly due to Amazon’s pure-play marketplace model, with its marketplace accounting for nearly half of all sales.
eBay may be the perfect channel to expand your reach if you are a business owner. The company’s 180 million active buyers make eBay a great place to sell your products. Moreover, it is easy to get your products listed quickly. This means you can focus on product page optimization and not on building an eCommerce store from scratch.
Alibaba is the third largest.
Alibaba is the world’s largest eCommerce website. It is so large that it is more significant than Amazon and eBay combined. Founded in 1999 by a former English teacher named Jack Ma, Alibaba is an extensive network of merchants, service providers, and logistics companies. It competes with other global online retailers, such as eBay and Amazon, as well as wholesalers and manufacturers in the United States. And like Amazon, it also offers financial services.
Alibaba started as a peer-to-peer platform. It now aims to connect manufacturers and businesses globally. It aims to act as Amazon’s sister site by bringing global manufacturers and consumers together. It has over seven million registered sellers and contributes more than a third of Alibaba’s total sales.
Several efforts drive Alibaba’s growth:
- It developed software tools that allow buyers and sellers to communicate and negotiate prices with one another.
- It created a system for sellers to introduce their products quickly, set prices, and make payments.
- Alibaba has developed various tools that allow sellers to create sophisticated online shop fronts.
Alibaba is launching financial services to meet the needs of more users than ever. Alipay’s mobile application allows users to pay for theater tickets and even invest in a money-market fund, attracting China’s banks’ attention. Despite its huge success, Alibaba’s biggest rival is still Tencent, the company behind WeChat, which has over 355 million users.
Alibaba has also introduced a chatbot, which uses artificial intelligence (A.I.) to provide customer support. These chatbots are based on machine-learning technologies, including semantic comprehension, context dialogues, and knowledge graphs. They can automatically diagnose and answer customer questions, confirm that a solution is acceptable and execute it. While the chatbot is not meant to interact directly with merchants, it does provide an excellent service for consumers.
Shopify is the fourth largest.
Shopify has a robust feature set that includes themes, payment gateways, point-of-sale hardware, email marketing tools, and shipping solutions. The platform also enables merchants to sell across various channels, including eBay, Facebook, Amazon, and more. Currently, more than 1.6 million merchants use Shopify to sell their goods.
The company boasts a 20 percent market share in the United Kingdom and is second only to WooCommerce. Most Shopify stores in the U.K. are located in England, Scotland, and Wales. The company’s industry statistics show that it powers 29 percent of all eCommerce websites. According to Shopify, most sellers are first-time entrepreneurs, and the company plans to expand into other countries and regions.
Despite Shopify’s success, its competition is increasing rapidly. WooCommerce and BigCommerce are gaining ground on Shopify. WooCommerce, for example, now powers six million websites. Its market share rose by two points last year. Both platforms are easy to use and offer similar feature sets. They are also both priced moderately and cater to merchants of all sizes.
Shopify offers an easy-to-use platform for eCommerce businesses and built-in marketing features. The company claims its enterprises are twice as likely to get more sales than similar businesses using other media. Moreover, more than half of Shopify visitors make at least one additional purchase after purchasing the first time. And the average Shopify shopper makes 3.8 purchases from the same store. This is a sign of an excellent customer experience.
Since the company was founded, it has steadily grown and democratized commerce. As a result, Shopify has created a platform accessible to all business sizes. This has led to the company’s growth almost three-fold in three years. Shopify has also been investing in 3D product images, which allow eCommerce shoppers to view a product from all angles.
Shopify is still not the most popular eCommerce platform, but it has seen significant growth over the past few years and continues on a growth path. Over one million businesses use Shopify across 175 countries, generating $319 billion in global activity. The company has also been a substantial beneficiary of the COVID era. It even offered a 90-day free trial for struggling business owners in 2020.
